


the aftermath is secondary

by etselec



Series: na na na [2]
Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Album), Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, The Youngblood Chronicles (Music Video)
Genre: Crying, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-05-22
Packaged: 2018-03-29 18:08:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3905818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etselec/pseuds/etselec
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happened to Pete and Kobra after Pete reached safehouse in Battery City?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. it's time to do it now and do it loud

**Author's Note:**

> sequel to my other fic so here u go!!!
> 
> it's happy.....................for now
> 
> ((other chapter in progress))

The bathroom was small and gritty. Rust and mold lined the walls and the only sound was constant plink of a dripping sink.

Pete had his body pressed against the wall and Kobra was kissing him; they were kissing a _lot._

They’d been at it in this shitty bathroom for what seemed like hours. Pete had his arms wrapped tightly around Kobra’s neck as Kobra licked and bit every inch of skin exposed.

“Mikey,” Pete breathed as soon as they had pulled apart, “when do you have to leave?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Kobra said, resting his forehead on Pete’s shoulder, pressing his own weight against him and the wall, “I’m sorry.” Kobra liked that Pete was the only one who used his real name nowadays. It was special to him and he liked that Pete and only Pete had the right to use it.

“It’s fine,” Pete replied, ruffing Kobra’s hair, “will you be back next month?”

“Of course, I always come back for you,” Kobra said, lifting his head from Pete’s shoulder. He kissed Pete on the mouth one last time. “When’s your shift over?”

Pete bit his lip and checked his watch. “Twenty minutes. Can you wait?”  

Kobra smiled. “Yeah. Serve me, like, coffee or something.”

Pete’s face scrunched up. “You hate coffee.”

“Whatever.”

Pete burst into a grin and planted a kiss on the side of Kobra’s face before slipping out from under his grasp and out of the diner bathroom. Kobra followed, sticking his hands in his pockets, observing the diner. “Is Brendon treating you well?”

“Duh, he’s like the coolest guy ever,” Pete said, grabbing ahold of Kobra’s hand and yanking him to a secluded booth.

“Is he still with that guy?”

“Ryan? Yeah, they’re gross,” Pete shrugged, flopping a rag on to the table to make himself look busy.

“Gross?” Kobra laughed, running a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, like couple-y and all that.”

“We’re couple-y and all that when I’m here,” Kobra noted. Kobra used every available opportunity to come and visit Pete, which unfortunately seemed to be only once a month. It’d been seven—wait no, this was the eighth time—so it had been _eight_ months since Brendon had taken Pete in. They had been together 30 days in total—counting the time Poison let Kobra stay with Pete for an entire _week._ _Three_ times.

“No, we hold hands and kiss but when Ryan’s over, Brendon can’t keep his fucking hands off of the guy. It’s like they’re connected or something. Weird shit,” Pete shrugged, grabbing a pencil from his apron pocket. “Coffee?”

“Hazelnut,” Kobra smiled, folding his hands on the table.

“Gross,” Pete mumbled, ripping the order off of the notepad. He tucked the pencil behind his ear.

Kobra frowned at him. “It’s the only kind I can stand.”

Pete sighed. “I know, babe.” He ran his fingers through Kobra’s hair before turning around and zipping into the kitchen. He came back five minutes later with a fresh pot of coffee and a mug. “Anyways, this new bitch waitress, Lisa, doesn’t believe I have a boyfriend so I wanna prove her wrong.”

Kobra giggled into his coffee. “Alright.”

“But get this,” Pete locked eyes with Kobra, “she, like, worships you guys—the Killjoys.”

Kobra stared down at his hands. “I don’t know, Pete, I don’t really wanna make a person upset like that—”

“Wait until you see her, you’ll know she’s a bitch,” Pete interrupted, taking a seat across from Kobra. The watch on Pete’s wrist beeped. “My shifts over.” He threw the rag he was holding into the kitchen and slid out from behind the booth.

Kobra stood up and immediately felt Pete’s fingers entwine with his. “Which one’s Lisa?”

A skinny woman with short neon green shorts and a black crop top blew a pink bubble of gum from the corner of her mouth and slammed her ordering notepad on the counter before wrapping a jacket around her shoulders. “That’s _her_ ,” Pete gritted out, “let go of my hand, I’m gonna do something.”

Kobra obeyed, distantly following Pete. He watched as he ran out the door of the diner, tapped the girl on the shoulder to which she snapped at him for ( _So many hand gestures_ , Kobra thought). Kobra slowly opened the door and revealed himself, standing awkwardly next to Pete.

“Oh my God, are you Kobra Kid?” the woman asked, completely ignoring whatever Pete was trying to say. Yeah, she kind of did seem like a bitch. “I love the Killjoys! You guys are, like, my heroes for fighting crime and trying to get to Korse and all that.” She batted her mascara layered eyelashes at Kobra then turned to Pete. “Oh, ignore him. He’s just as starstruck as me”

Pete bit his lip to keep himself from laughing out loud.

“I’m Lisa,” the woman held out her hand, smiling wide. Kobra took her hand before dropping it quickly.  

“Oh, hello,” Kobra forced a smile.

Lisa played with a loose strand of hair. “So…what are you in the city for?”

“Visiting.”

“How long are you here for?”

“Just the rest of the day,” Kobra answered, sticking his hands in his jean pockets. “I’m visiting my…” Kobra darted his eyes from Lisa to Pete, “...boyfriend.”

Lisa’s eyes bugged out of her head. “You mean you’re _not_ —”

“Yeah,” Kobra blinked at her, “you okay with that?”

“I always thought that you were… you know, you were a ladies man.”

Kobra barked out a laugh. “Man’s man, at the moment. Ladies man in the past.”

Lisa wrinkled her nose before smacking her gum obnoxiously. “Who’s this guy, then?”

Pete looked from Lisa to Kobra, amused.

“Maybe I know him. Tell me his name.”

Kobra smiled. “Pete. Pete Wentz.”

“Pete _Wentz?_ As in—” she drew her arm out to point at Pete, “ _this_ guy?”

“Duh,” Pete finally said, grabbing ahold of Kobra’s hand, “I fucking told you, Lisa.”

Lisa folded her arms. “You told me you had a _boyfriend_ —which I admit, was a little skeptical about—but you didn’t tell me your were dating Kobra fucking Kid.”

Pete really wanted to say _hahaha suck my dick, Lisa_ but he was a nice person and shrugged. “Let’s go, Kobra.”

Kobra nodded, hiding a blush from Lisa. “Later, Lisa.”

Lisa started to open her mouth but found herself with nothing left to say. She shut her mouth and smacked her gum. Sighing, Lisa turned around and walked down the block.

“Hell fucking _yeah_ , that’s _right,_ Lisa. Walk away, bitch,” Pete called after an empty spot on the sidewalk.

“You’re kind of mean,” Kobra mumbled, resting his chin on Pete’s shoulder.

Pete scowled at the top of Kobra’s head. “Did you hear her? Even her voice is bitchy.”

Kobra sighed, lifting his head up. “Let’s go back to your place.”

Pete stood up on his tiptoes and caught Kobra’s lips in a kiss. “Agreed.”


	2. killjoys make some noise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oo ps i changed it to three chapters because I wanna add more.

**TWO YEARS LATER**

It had been two years (maybe more) since Pete had reached Battery City. Things were fine—he had a nice apartment, Brendon and Ryan were still together, Kobra still visited him every so often, but Pete was… _bored._

It was same old thing every day: wake up, go to work, avoid watching the news, check the mail for letters from Kobra, go to bed.

What more was there to do? He couldn’t leave or the Dracs would get him—and he couldn’t get a new job because, come on—it was Battery fucking City, the only “good” job here was at Better Living Industries.

Kobra was allowed to stay with Pete for a week and a half this time and it was fucking _awesome._ They maybe had sex three times a day, but that wasn’t even the best part. Pete took Kobra to Brendon’s house and he and Ryan talked about comics for _ages._

Pete watched in amazement as Kobra’s face lit up when Ryan mentioned a certain comic. Pete couldn’t help but smile at the expressions on Kobra’s face.

Kobra bounced over to Pete after Brendon dragged Ryan away. “Did you hear that? All the comics Ryan’s read?”

Pete laughed. “Should I be jealous?”

“Totally,” Kobra teased, wrapping an arm around Pete’s waist. He leaned down close to Pete’s ear, “do you wanna go home?”

Pete shivered. “Okay, yes.” He stood up, yanking Kobra up with him. Pete thanked Brendon and Ryan for having them over and left the apartment, hand in hand.

“Do you like it here?” Kobra asked when they were a block from Pete’s apartment, “In Battery City?”

Pete shrugged. “It can get boring, but yeah, at least I’m safe.”

Kobra’s hand tightened around Pete’s. “I could always convince Poison for me to stay longer.”

“No, Mikey,” Pete sighed, “you can’t be away for too long.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Pete said seriously, unlocking the door to his apartment, “your team is more important.”

“ _You’re_ more important,” Kobra blurted out, walking to the other side of the living room. He sighed and continued, “you’re more important to me at the moment. I don’t know, I’m more concerned about wanting to get back to you more than getting about getting shot sometimes.”

“You shouldn’t think like that. Your life is more important than anything,” Pete took a seat on his couch while Kobra still paced around anxiously.

Kobra considered this and was silent for a moment, a million things going through his head. He faced Pete who awaited his response. “I miss you tons, every single mission—it hurts.”

Pete sighed.  “I miss you, too, but you can’t keep worrying about me or else you’ll—”

“I love you,” he interjected, looking Pete right in the eye.

Pete’s eyes widened.

“I love you, Pete, I think I have for a while,” Kobra admitted, playing with the fabric of his jacket, “I’m in disgusting, Brendon-Ryan love with you.”

A smile tugged at the corners of Pete’s mouth. “I fucking love you, too, Kobra Kid.”

Kobra giggled, jumping over to kiss Pete senseless.

—

Kobra left a few days later, Pete feeling a little more upset than he usually did before. Kobra felt that way, too, tears beginning to form in his eyes after Pete kissed him long and slow in the living room the morning before he left.

“You’re crying,” Pete muttered, as tears actually began to slide down Kobra’s cheek.

“I know, I’m a baby,” Kobra joked, wiping his tears with his sleeve.

“No you’re not,” Pete smiled, removing Kobra’s arm from his face. He felt tears roll down his own face. “Look, now I’m the baby.”

“You’re not,” Kobra gripped the side of Pete’s face and they both stared at each other’s red, splotchy eyes, “you’re not, Pete.” Kobra let go and pulled Pete into another hug.

“We’re both babies,” Pete sniffled against Kobra’s shoulder.

Kobra choked out a laugh, but it came out sounding like a cry. “I’m sorry I have to leave.”

“‘s not your fault,” Pete replied, his grip tightening around Kobra’s back.

A car horn beeped outside Pete’s apartment.

“Oh, shit,” Kobra pulled away from Pete and gripped his hand, “walk me to the car?”

“Like I’d say no,” Pete said, already a few steps ahead of him. They made it to the car, Poison’s feet propped up on the dashboard, Jet in front the front seat tapping his fingers against the steering wheel, and Ghoul fiddling with something with wires sticking out of it.

Kobra jumped into the backseat.

“Bye, Kobra,” Pete leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth and stepped even closer. “I love you,” he said, close enough that only Kobra could hear.

Kobra mouthed “I love you, too” back, smiling.

“Gross, guys,” Ghoul commented, sticking a wire into an open compartment and yelping when the wire shocked him. “Fucking—”

Jet started to drive.

“Have fun, Kobra?” Poison asked, turning around to grin at him. Kobra couldn’t see behind his sunglasses, but he could tell Poison was happy to have him back. Poison, then, frowned. “You look upset, did you and Pete have a fight?”

“Complete opposite, actually,” Kobra shrugged, tucking his seat belt over his body.

Poison was silent for a second. “I don’t want to know what that’s implying.”

“It’s not implying—oh,” Kobra turned pink, and leaned closer to Poison and spoke closely, “that’s not what I meant. I just, uh, miss him, you know.” He blinked back more tears.

“Are—are you crying?” Poison turned to get a better view of his brother. He frowned. “I can let you stay for longer if—”

“‘m not crying, forget about it, Poison,” Kobra mumbled against his jacket sleeve. He sniffled before turned his head to stare out the window so none of them would see him cry.

Poison climbed into the backseat and kissed the side of Ghoul’s face before turning his attention to Kobra. “Do you love him?”

“What?”

“Pete—do you love him?”

Kobra flushed pink again. “I think so, yeah.”

“Have you told him?” Poison asked softly.

Kobra nodded.

“Okay,” was all Poison said before heading back up front, “that’s fine, Kobra, it’s just that it’s hard, you know?”

Kobra blinked at the back of the seat in confusion.

“You can’t give him everything. You have to save people,” Poison said, trying not to raise his voice.

“I know.”

Poison sighed up front. “I’m sorry it’s like this.”

“I _know_.”

—

“Dude, you’ll never guess what I found at the shop,” Brendon and Ryan were staying at Pete’s apartment while his own apartment was getting renovated because Ryan was moving in. Ryan was at work, but Brendon was still here. He burst into Pete’s room with an a grocery bag in his left hand.

“Porn?” Pete joked, shoving the letters Kobra wrote him to the side.

Brendon made a face. “Shut up, asshole, we’re both in relationships. Like I’d _ever_ buy shit like that.”

“Dunno, they always got those android boys if Ryan’s ever leaving you unsatisfied,” Pete said, grinning.

“ _You’re_ one to talk. Your boyfriend only comes, like, once a month,” Brendon countered. He sighed, gripping the grocery bag tighter. “Do you wanna hear what I found at the shop or not?”

Pete nodded for him to continue.

“Fucking popcorn,” Brendon smiled wide and reached into his bag and pulled out a shiny, plastic wrapped container of microwave popcorn.

“Dude!” Pete grinned, standing up from his bed. “Do you even still have a microwave?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

Pete shrugged, taking the popcorn out of Brendon’s hand and feeling the shiny plastic under his fingertips. “I got rid of my microwave because of the radiation scare back in 2015.”

Brendon snorted. “You actually believed that? Better Living just wanted more money so they sold off all the microwaves to China.”

“I didn’t know,” Pete mumbled, handing the popcorn back to Brendon.

“I know, you were a regular guy, you didn’t know the system like I did,” Brendon unwrapped the plastic off of the popcorn, "it took me months to worm my way out of Better Living. Come on, I wanna see if popcorn tastes the same as it did when I was thirteen.”

“Thirteen? Come on, my friend, Patrick, snuck me popcorn when I was 20.”

“Whatever,” Brendon stuck the popcorn in the microwave and pressed a few buttons (that Pete had no recollection of what they did—it’d been years since he’d even _seen_ a microwave) and the microwave started to work.

Just then, the phone rang. “Brendon, can you get that?” Pete asked, still in awe over the microwave.

“Yeah, yeah,” Brendon waved him off and grabbed the phone from the counter and headed into the living room.

Pete ignored Brendon talking and just as the microwave beeped, Brendon called for him.

“Dude, the popcorn’s done—I think. When it beeps does it mean it’s done?”

“Pete, come over here,” Brendon said again, darkly serious.

Pete swallowed and started to walk. Brendon never got serious like that—unless it was important. “Is everything okay?”

Brendon said nothing and handed the phone to him. He slid past him and into the kitchen.

“Hello?” Pete said.

“Hey, uh, it’s Poison.”

“What’s up?” Pete leaned against the couch.

Poison didn’t say anything for a couple seconds. Pete could hear his steady breathing on the other line. “Kobra’s been hurt.”

Pete’s stomach dropped. He covered his mouth with his hand. “Is… he okay?”

“Dracs got to him. Luckily, they didn’t have their guns with them, but one of them broke Kobra’s arm and pushed him down a hill and he—”

“Poison,” Pete raised his voice, sounding angrier than he should, “is Kobra okay?”

Poison sighed. “He’s fine, we’re just outside a friend’s house who’s fixing him up and then we’ll be on our way.”

Pete’s heart stopped beating faster. _Thank God._ “If he’s safe, then why are you telling me this?”

“He keeps asking for you,” Poison muttered, “while he was sleeping a few hours ago, he kept saying your name over and over. I tried to calm him down and saying it was _me,_ his _brother_ , but he would swat me away like I was nothing to him.”

“Poison, you’re one of the most important people in his life right now,” Pete said quietly, “he doesn’t need me.”

“That’s not even it!” Poison snapped. “He was moping over you all week and that was the reason he let those Dracs jump him.”

“Poison, what are you saying?”

“You’ve got to do it.”

Pete’s face drained of color. “Do what?”

“Break up with him.”


	3. kiss me you animal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lots of hurt/comfort in this and 100% guaranteed happy ending

The phone clattered to the ground. Pete didn’t even bother to pick it up for several seconds. He could hear Poison’s voice calling his name from the phone.  Pete swallowed and sunk down to his knees to pick the phone back up; he leaned against the couch.

“I can’t, Poison,” Pete said, his voice shaky, “I can’t do that, I—”

“Love him? I know, he told me,” Poison bit out. He sighed. “You have to break it off with him. You make him _weak_.”

Pete felt his stomach drop. _Me? Make Kobra weak?_ He suddenly became angry. “Fuck you, Poison, don’t you got Ghoul to fuck or something?”

“Shut _up_ , this isn’t about us,” Poison said, “he’s my _teammate._ Hate to break it to you, but you’re not a fucking Killjoy.”

“Fuck off, Poison, I’m not breaking up with him,” Pete snapped into the phone, “Kobra’s the only thing that keeps me going and he helps me forget about all the shit I’ve been through. I bet Ghoul does that for you, doesn’t he?”

“Ghoul’s an easy fuck, I could care less if he loved me or not,” Poison said darkly.

Pete didn’t even know Ghoul that well and he felt shocked. Poison was _cruel,_ he was fucking _cruel_. “You can’t fucking say that about a teammate like that.”

“Watch me.”

“Fuck you,” Pete ended the call and threw the phone into the couch cushion. Frustrated, he stormed into the kitchen where Brendon sat at the kitchen table across from Ryan, talking in hushed voices.

“Ryan,” Pete said as softly as he could, “when did you get back?”

“Not too long ago,” Ryan replied, leaning back in the chair.

Brendon cleared his throat. “Pete, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, they’re fine—Kobra’s fine,” Pete shrugged, tired, “I’m gonna go up to my room.”

He jogged up the stairs, closed the door to his room and lay down in his bed. He couldn’t believe Poison of all people wanted him to breakup with Kobra _and_ he said all those things about _Ghoul._ Pete scrubbed a hand over his face and pulled the covers over his body. He fell asleep sometime later, trying not to think about his conversation on the phone.

—

Pete’s eyes snapped open to someone shaking his shoulders. He rubbed his eyes and turned to the side only to face Kobra staring at him.

His right arm was in some sort of a sling and he had a bandage wrapped around his other arm.

“Kobra?”

Kobra smiled weakly. “Yeah, it’s me.”

Pete sat himself up. “Are you okay?”

“Fine, little banged up, but I’m okay,” Kobra crouched down to the bed. “I snuck out, Pete. I snuck away while the Killjoys were sleeping at Brian’s house.”

“Brian?” Pete asked.

“He’s our friend,” he tried to lift his arm in the sling, “fixed me up.”

Pete nodded. He then blinked at Kobra “How’d you get in?”

“I’m a Killjoy, I know how to pick locks,” Pete could see Kobra’s smile in the dark.

Pete lowered his voice. “You shouldn’t have snuck out. They’ll be worried.”

Kobra sighed and climbed on the bed to sit next to his boyfriend. “I know.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes. The only noise was the hum of the ceiling fan downstairs and the occasional police car siren or gunshot (which was normal).

“Is there a reason you came?” Pete asked, breaking the silence.

“Sort of, I—” Kobra started, fiddling with his sling. He sighed and opened and closed his mouth several times, as if reconsidering his answer. “I—I want to quit.”

“Quit?”

“I don’t want to be a Killjoy anymore. I don’t want to _fight._ I want to be able to do boyfriend stuff with you. I just want to _be_ with you, I love you,” Kobra stated, staring at the ground, afraid of what Pete would say. “I told you it hurts, right? It hurts—hurts a lot. It’s my fault those Dracs got me and it was because I was missing you so bad. I need—”

“Kobra—Mikey, you need to get ahold of yourself,” Pete was starting to realize what Poison was talking about. Pete was the one throwing Kobra off his game—the reason he didn’t do so well anymore. Pete was the reason Kobra might _leave_ the fucking Killjoys for godsake. “I love you, too, but I’ve told you multiple times that _I_ am _not_ more important than your team. _I_ am not more important than your own _brother_ , your own flesh and blood. I’m safe here and the reason for that is because you and the Killjoys fight for every citizen in and around Battery City to be _safe._ You can’t just throw that away, who would protect _me_? Your _friends_? Even Brendon and Ryan?”

He couldn’t do it. He _physically_ couldn’t. Breaking up with Kobra would leave Pete feeling _dead_ for the rest of his life. He felt like he would never get over him, plus hearing about him in the news would depress him more. Pete had been depressed before, and he didn’t want to be again.

Kobra’s eyes were wide. “Pete, Oh my God. I’m sorry, I’ve never thought of it that way. I’m a fucking idiot, I shouldn’t have even considered—shit—I’m a bad person.” Kobra groaned and covered his face with his hands.

He then perked up and grabbed Pete’s shoulders. “Join me. Become a Killjoy. I—I’ll teach you how to fight—we’ll all teach you.”

Pete sighed. “Kobra, I haven’t even told you what happened before we met yet—I can’t be a Killjoy. I’m no fighter.”

“You haven’t,” Kobra said quietly, “told me about your past. Most of it.” Pete had told Kobra one time about his childhood life with his parents (whom were brutally murdered when the Dracs took control of his childhood town) and how his parents would make him his favorite dish, pizza (which was now considered a delicacy), and let him watch cartoons and go to bed.

Pete told him that when he was done with college, he found himself in a sunny small town a few miles outside of what used to be LA before it was evacuated after a nuclear explosion in 2011. He and his college friends worked at a bar and they were in a band—Fall Out Boy or something—Kobra didn’t remember.

Kobra was curious, intrigued. “Tell me now, then. We got all night.”

Pete rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. “Okay, okay. From the beginning, alright?”

Kobra sat back against the bed frame, nodding for him to continue.

“My, uh, band was a pretty good band. Everyone around the town had heard of us and we occasionally were booked for an entire week. We had, like, interviews and shit,” Pete looked to Kobra to make sure he was paying attention. “I hate to say it like this but I was fucking _rich_. Me and my band were probably the second richest in town besides the mayor.

“Anyways, this murderous cult of chicks kidnapped me and my band and chased us all throughout town. They cut off my best friend’s hand dosed him with these crazy fucking drugs and he turned full on animalistic. I tried to calm him down, tell him it was _me,_ but it was fucking weird, he was like a zombie,” Pete paused for a minute before adding in a lower voice, “his name was Patrick. I haven’t seen or heard from him since.”

“You tried to get back to your parents after this?” Kobra asked quietly.

“Yeah, yeah, I ran out of town and away from that shitstorm. I think my other bandmates, Joe and Andy, found somewhere to stay, but I’m not sure, I haven’t really kept in touch with them,” Pete scratched the back of his neck, “and, uh, you know what happened when I got to my parents’ house.”

“Yes,” Kobra breathed, “I’m sorry.”

“‘s fine.”

Kobra blinked at the wall. “Patrick… Stump?”

Pete turned to look at him. “Yeah, did you know him?”

“No,” Kobra shook his head, “I heard about him on the radio. And that town. And the band. That was you?”

“Yeah,” Pete nodded, “you heard about Pat? Is he okay?”

Kobra shrugged. “Pete, it was over a year ago. I don’t know if he’s okay or not. He’s probably still out there.” He looked distantly at the floor. “Was he your…”

 _“No,_ oh my God, he was like a brother to me,” Pete said immediately, “I love Patrick, but not _that_ much.”

“Oh, erm, that’s good,” Kobra said awkwardly.

“I can’t be a Killjoy, Kobra. I ran for my fucking life instead of helping my best friend. You can’t have that on your team. What skills do I have? I can’t do anything,” Pete sighed, swinging his legs over the edge of his bed, “I’m fine working at the diner for the rest of my life.” He stood up and padded to the door and swung it open. “Go, get out of here.”

“Pete,” Kobra’s mouth went dry and his eyes were wide, “I—”

He shut his mouth.

“You what?” Pete asked, leaning against the doorway.

Kobra burst into a sob, sniffling into his jacket sleeve. He wiped his eyes and coughed before getting up. “I’m sorry, _sorry,_ I’m a fucking child.” He started towards the door.

“Kobra,” Pete blocked the door, “are you alright?”

Kobra shrugged, bowing his head down.

Pete placed his hand on the side of Kobra’s face. “Hey, you shouldn’t be sorry for crying. Nothing’s your fault.” He tilted his face up to look into his eyes.

Kobra tried to stare back down at the carpet.

“Stop it, look at me,” Pete said. He continued once Kobra obeyed, “I—you…” Pete found himself at a loss for words. “You can stay the night. The _night,_ that’s it. I’ll see you off tomorrow morning, okay?”

Kobra nodded.

“Poison’s gonna be pissed, you know,” Pete warned, shutting the door behind the two of them, “mega pissed.”

“You don’t know that,” Kobra protested, sitting himself down on Pete’s bed, crosslegged.

“I _do_ know that,” Pete said, sitting down next to him. “You know, Poison called me a few hours ago.”

Kobra frowned. “He called you?”

“Yeah,” Pete fiddled with his hands, “he told me to break up with you.”

Kobra’s eyes widened. “ _What_?”

“I kind of, um, yelled at him and called him a slut kind of, so sorry,” Pete mumbled, still playing with his hands, “I’m not gonna break up with you, you know.”

Kobra clenched his fists. “Fuck—Poison’s a fucking dick. He’s been a real dick _lately_. He’s even been mean to Ghoul and, shit man, I can’t bear to see Ghoul that upset anymore.”

“Something up with him?” Pete asked. “How long has he been like this?”

“I’m not sure,” Kobra looked at his lap, “he kinda got tired of me going back and forth to you. He likes to keep things consistent.”

“You don’t have to visit me that often.”

Kobra scrubbed his hand through his hair. “That’s the thing. I _know_ that, but I _can’t_. I’m an emotional piece of shit.”

“You’re _not_ ,” Pete said. He motioned for Kobra to step off  the bed. “Get up.”

Kobra did as he was told, following Pete with his eyes as he pulled the covers down and lay on his side, propping himself up on his elbow. “Draw me like one of your French girls.” Pete grinned, patting the space next to him on the bed.

Kobra broke into a smile and climbed next to Pete, their bodies pressed close together on the small bed, facing him. “I love you,” he said, kissing him on the side of his neck.

“Love you, too,” Pete yawned, turning his body away from him, “go to sleep, Kobra.”

Kobra nodded although Pete couldn’t see. He draped an arm over Pete’s waist and Pete scooched closer.

“Aren’t you crushing your broken arm?” Pete asked, worried.

“It’s fine,” Kobra assured.

“I can feel your hard-on,” Pete joked into his pillow.

“Shut up,” Kobra said against the nape of Pete’s neck.

The last thing Kobra heard before he fell asleep was the sound of Pete giggling. He drifted off to sleep, dreaming of a normal life with his boyfriend.

—

“Mikey, babe, wake up,” Pete shook Kobra’s shoulders, “come on, it’s 7:00AM.”

Kobra’s eyes snapped open and he sat up immediately without a hesitation. Killjoy instincts. “Morning already?”

Pete nodded, tucking a piece of Kobra’s hair behind his ear.

Kobra stretched his arms out and yawned. “Okay, okay.”

“You gotta leave before Brendon and Ryan wake up,” Pete held his hand out and pulled Kobra up from his bed.

He didn’t want Kobra to leave, really. He _never_ wanted Kobra to leave. Pete was upset, but it was never better for Kobra to stay longer. The more time that Kobra spent here, the less chance he had of survival and overthrowing Better Living.

Pete kissed Kobra on the lips one last time and watched him jog out into the desert, sighing to himself. He crept back up into his room and sat on his bed, hugging his knees to his chest.

He listened to the radio for a few minutes before Brendon came knocking on his door.

“Yo, did someone try to rob us last night?” Brendon asked, poking his head into Pete’s room.

Pete shrugged and shook his head.

“I heard a bunch of rustling late last night,” Brendon commented, looking over his shoulder after hearing Ryan calling for him from downstairs, “you didn’t hear anything?”

“Uh, no, nothing,” Pete blinked, “I, uh, guess I’m a heavy sleeper.”

“Whatever,” Brendon shut the door behind him, padding down the stairs to Ryan.

Pete lay a hand on his chest to calm himself down. “Shit,” he whispered to himself.

—

The next two days were the same as any other days. Lisa was still a piece of shit to him at the diner and Brendon and Ryan still made gooey eyes at each other during dinner _(although_ they would be leaving in a few days—their apartment was almost done).

But one morning, Pete woke up to the cold press of metal against his forehead. His eyes fluttered open and his vision adjusted to see Poison holding a gun to his head.

Pete wanted to throw up. He swallowed instead, shivering. “P-Poison?”

“Pete, get up. We’re going somewhere,” Poison stated.

“Why should I?” Pete asked snarkily, shoving the gun away from his head.

Poison shoved the gun into his back pocket. “You wanna see Kobra or not?”

Pete rubbed his forehead. He couldn’t argue with that. “Why’d you point the gun at me?”

Poison scoffed. “To wake you up, asshole.”

“You’re the fucking asshole,” Pete mumbled, pulling some jeans on.

Poison sighed. “I know, I know, I’ve been an asshole lately. I’m—uh—I’m sorry, okay? Ghoul and I have been going through a bunch of shit and Kobra was talking endlessly about you so I got all bitchy. I feel really bad for calling Ghoul an easy fuck and he’s been avoiding me and _ugh,_ love is really stupid.”

“Love? So you l—”

“Shut up, Wentz,” Poison went scarlet, “let’s go.”

Pete posted a note on the refrigerator for Brendon and Ryan and ran to catch up with Poison. “Where we going?”

“You’ll find out,” Poison said, walking at a fast pace.

“You’re too fast,” Pete mumbled, jogging to catch up.

Within the next ten minutes, Poison entered an abandoned building, Pete following closely behind. The windows were broken and streams of light flooded through the cracks. The ceiling had holes scattered across it.

“What the fuck—”

“Pete!” Andy fucking Hurley wrapped his arms around Pete’s neck, causing him to stumble back.

“Oh my God, Andy,” Pete hugged back, smiling against his shoulder. “Dude—when—how—”

“Pete, what the fuck, what about me?”

Pete turned around to see Joe fucking Trohman holding his arms out. Pete ran and hugged him as well, pretty much crying against his shoulder.

“How did you guys get here?” Pete asked in awe.

“Those Killjoy dudes,” Joe said, nodding towards Poison, who smiled.

“Dude—Poison—why?” Pete spluttered out. He was too happy to care what he was saying.

Poison rubbed the back of his neck. “I felt bad for being so awful to you so I tracked them down. This is my apology to you, I guess.”

Pete smiled but then noticed something. There was one more person missing.

“Patrick?” Pete asked quietly.

Andy looked from Joe to Pete, then back to Joe. He turned pale. “He, uh, didn’t make it.”

Pete’s face drained of color. “What do you mean ‘didn’t make it’?”

Joe swallowed, staring at his dirt covered shoes. “The drugs—whatever shit they gave him—it killed him. I found his corpse a year or so ago and you could just make out his face. The rest was, erm, you know, unrecognizable.”

Andy nodded in agreement.

“Patrick’s fucking… _dead?”_ Pete’s stomach sank. His best friend of _years_ , maybe even a _decade_ (Pete had known him even when he was in high school) was _dead_. It was… his fault wasn’t it? He ran away, he was _scared_ and he fucking ran away.

“I’m sorry, Pete,” Andy blurted out, “I know you knew him really well.”

“ _Really well?_ He was my best _friend_ ,” Pete choked out.

Poison stepped in. “Pete—I’m sorry, I didn’t know—”

“It’s fine,” Pete interrupted, running a hand through his hair. “None of you knew him like I did. You wouldn’t understand.”

Poison frowned. “I’m a fuck-up. I try and fix things and—” he sighed, “I’m gonna get Kobra.” He ran into the distance.

Pete almost went after him, but he didn’t have the strength to do so. “I knew he was missing, you know, messed up and shit. But I can’t believe he’s actually _gone._ ” Pete wanted to tell Patrick about Kobra, how he’s finally found someone—how he’s happy and in _love_. He couldn’t now, Patrick wasn’t there to pat him on the back and tell him he’d done good while Pete would try and set him up with the girl at the grocery store. It felt like it had been _decades_ ago.

Joe played with the belt loop on his jeans.

Andy stared absently at a hole in the ceiling.

Kobra came running from the other side a few minutes later and tackled Pete into a hug, kissing every inch of skin on his face. “I heard what happened, are you okay?”

“Your sling’s gone,” Pete noticed once Kobra created space between them.

Kobra raised his once-broken arm up. “Fast healer. It’s a Killjoy thing.”

“I fucking—I need you right now—I’m just—” and that’s when Pete burst into tears, sinking down onto the cement floor, curling up into a ball.

Kobra immediately crouched down. “Pete? Are you alright? _Pete,_ look at _me._ ”

Andy covered his mouth with his hand as Joe frowned, unsure of what to do.

“Kobra Kid, right?” Joe asked. When Kobra nodded, he continued, “do you want us to leave?”

Kobra cleared his throat. “Yes. Thank you.”

Joe and Andy nodded and walked out the building and into town.

“Hey, _hey,_ ” Kobra whispered. Pete was now sitting cross legged, slouching and sniffling at the cement floor. “Pete, look at me.”

Pete didn’t budge.

“It’s not your fault,” Kobra said, trying to get ahold of Pete’s gaze, “it’s not your fault, you didn’t know. You did the _right_ thing of leaving to keep yourself safe.”

“What about Patrick, huh? He’s not fucking safe,” Pete snapped, retreating his gaze back at the ground.

Kobra sighed. “Look, I’m sorry what happened to your friend, I really am. But death is something you should be used to by now.”

Pete opened his mouth, horrified. “Kobra, how can you fucking _say_ that?”

“I’m a Killjoy, dumbass. I’ve seen more death than you can count,” Kobra folded his arms.

“I’m not a fucking Killjoy,” Pete drawled, raising his voice. When he realized Kobra resembled what looked like a scared animal, his face softened. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Kobra mumbled, “can I hug you?”

“Yeah,” was all Pete said before Mikey’s arms engulfed him in a hug—which was kind of awkward considering they were still on the cold floor. “You’re right, though. I should be used to it by now, but Patrick was my best friend. I wanted to tell him things. Tell him about _us_. Tell him about _you_ and how fucking perfect you are.”

“I’m sorry, Pete,” Kobra then ducked his head down to blush. “I’m gonna find the others. Come with me?”

Pete nodded, sniffling. “Yeah, of course.”

Pete and Kobra walked to the far end of the building and into the desert area, shaded by a sheet of steel hanging over the edge of the building. Poison and Ghoul sat across from each other, both cross legged, knee to knee. They were leaned close to each other, talking in a hushed whisper. Kobra hoped they made up.

Jet was in the backseat of the car cleaning the rayguns, polishing them with a soft cotton cloth.

“Poison,” Kobra stated, stopping a few feet away from them.

Poison swatted him away like a fly, still keeping eye contact with Ghoul.

“Um, what’s going on?” Pete whispered to Kobra.

“They’re gonna make up, kiss, and then probably fuck,” Kobra said truthfully. He sighed, “they’re no help.”

Pete laughed, suppressing his laugh with his hand. “My place?” He asked, taking his hand.

“Like I’d say no,” Kobra smirked.

—

**EPILOGUE**

Pete and Kobra got used to it—the constant back and forth of visiting and leaving. Kobra learned to keep the jacket Pete was first wearing when they met (the leather one, now dirty and ripped) in the backseat of the car so he wouldn’t be missing him as much anymore.

He called Pete at every phone booth they passed and sent him letters whenever there was an available mailbox—that was all Kobra did during their long road trips; he wrote letters, poems, little things that popped into his head—Pete loved and looked forward to them.

Pete spent his days working at the diner and living his life as a normal person. He looked forward to whenever Kobra visited him (still once a month, although Poison had changed the minimum amount of days to two, thankfully) and made a few friends from around town and at work (Lisa was still a mega bitch, but whatever).

Brendon and Ryan stayed a couple—still disgustingly lovey and gross to this day.

Pete almost envied their relationship, but then again, his boyfriend was a Killjoy.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was so much fun writing
> 
> i'd like to thank my petekey fam for all the encouragement (if u count "no no o celeste i swear if u kill _____" as encouragment....im jk ily guys) and for keeping me motivated.
> 
> if it werent for them, i would've ended this much more sadly which would leave everyone upset
> 
> thanks for reading! kudos, bookmarks, comments appreciated! i wanna know ur thoughts!!


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